Reds inch closer to wild card spot with win over Twins

*Photo from Reuters*

   Here comes the red machine. Will Benson homered, Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs, and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Minnesota Twins with a 7-3 victory on Monday night in Cincinnati.

   Opening the series with a win, the Reds have won 5 of 7 and 6 of 10 games, moving into a tie for the final wild card spot with the Chicago Cubs, and just a half game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second spot.

   Noelvi Marte gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the second inning, hitting an RBI single that scored Tyler Stephenson. Votto then scored on a sac fly from Benson to double the lead. In the top of the 4th, Royce Lewis hit a solo home run to get the Twins on the board. Benson hit a two run home run in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-1 Reds.

   Alex Kirilloff hit a solo home run in the 7th for the Twins, cutting the deficit to 4-2. In the bottom of the 7th, an RBI single from Spencer Steer and a two run single from Votto made the score 7-2 in favor of the Reds. In the 9th, Kyle Farmer got a run back for the Twins with an RBI double, making it a 7-3 final score.

   Connor Phillips got the start for the Reds, charged with two runs on 3 hits and a walk in 7 innings, striking out 7 hitters. Derek Law worked a scoreless 8th inning before Alex Young allowed a run in the 9th inning.

   Reds manager David Bell said of Phillips' start that "We’ve talked about how important these games are. It’s a good hitting team over there. He goes deep into the game, which gives our bullpen another break for the day. In so many ways, it was just a huge start for our team."

   Joe Ryan made the start for the Twins, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5 hitters in 5 innings. Dallas Keuchel came on in relief, allowing 3 runs on a pair of walks and 4 hits in 3 innings pitched, striking out two hitters.

   During the game, the Twins lost star shortstop Carlos Correa. In the first inning, Correa left the game after reaggravating the plantar fasciitis in his leg.

   Correa said after the game that "I felt a small little tweak there in the heel. It just got painful, real painful after that. Obviously, I’ve been trying to manage this for a while now. Some days after are better than others. Today really felt like a great day until that moment. We’ll see. I usually respond well a couple of days after."

   Up next, the series continues on Tuesday night. The Reds go for the series win as Fernando Cruz gets the start, while the Twins try to even things up as Kenta Maeda takes the hill.